Three members of the Point Loma baseball team were named to the All-Pacific West Conference team for the 2013 season. Garret Levsen earned first-team all-conference honors as a relief pitcher, while Tyler Garkow was named to the second team as a starting pitcher. Trey Hunt received third-team honors as an outfielder.

Levsen tied for the PacWest lead with 10 saves to go along with a 2.39 earned run average. Opponents hit just .186 off

26.1 innings pitched. The junior from Whittier was also tied for second in the PacWest with 21 appearances. He had a 23-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Levsen also paired with Sam Sadler to throw the first combined no-hitter in PLNU history on April 12 against Fresno Pacific.

Garkow, who pitched as the Sea Lions’ No. 1 starter throughout the season, placed fourth in the PacWest with a 2.39 earned run average and seven wins. He was also third in innings pitched (92) and fourth in complete games (four) and sixth in strikeouts (62). The senior from Glendora allowed just 83 hits in 92 innings pitched, as opponents hit just .245 off him during the season.

Hunt was second on the Sea Lions with a .310 batting average and led the squad with 57 hits. He started all 52 games for the Sea Lions this season in center field and recorded seven outfield assists. The sophomore from Lincoln High School also hit safely in 37 of 52 games and put together hitting streaks of 11 games and 12 games.

Levsen also garnered an honorable mention selection on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) All-West Region team as a relief pitcher.

Shawna Baker returns to PLNU as head athletic trainer

Shawna Baker has accepted the opportunity to return to her alma mater of Point Loma Nazarene University to become the head athletic trainer, according to PLNU athletic director Ethan Hamilton.

Baker, who has spent the last 10 years as the head athletic trainer and assistant professor in the Kinesiology Department at San Diego Christian College, will began at PLNU on May 17. Baker will oversee all aspects of athletic training at PLNU for all 11 Sea Lions athletic teams.

“I am excited to be back at my alma mater and to work with the student-athletes, Ethan Hamilton and the rest of the PLNU staff,” said Baker. “I look forward to the opportunity to give back to this institution that has given so much to me.”

Baker spent all four undergraduate years at PLNU and earned her degree in athletic training in 1998. She went on to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she earned her master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in sports medicine. In addition to her degrees and NATA certifications, Baker is also a registered instructor in first-aid, CPR and AED.

Following her graduation from UNLV, Baker served as a head athletic trainer at The Meadows School and Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas. She returned to PLNU as an assistant athletic trainer and visiting assistant professor from January 2001 through August 2002. Baker also served in the role of clinical supervisor for the ATEP (Athletic Training Education Program) at PLNU before moving on to San Diego Christian.

Baker will replace fellow PLNU alum Lindsy Donnelly, who will be leaving at the end of May to pursue her master’s degree in kinesiology and athletic training at the University of Virginia.

“We are thrilled to have Shawna lead our athletic training clinic,” said Hamilton. “She will do an excellent job working with our staff, coaches and students (athletes and athletic trainers). I am excited to see her build on the foundation laid by Lindsy Donnelly and the other athletic trainers before her.”

Seeds of Sea Lion athletics spread to South Carolina

While 2013 marked the end of the Point Loma men’s track and field program, the seeds from that program have drifted across the country and have sprouted in South Carolina.

PLNU alumni and former Sea Lions student-athletes Landon Bright and Katie Bright (formerly Browning) were hired to start the cross-country program at Bob Jones University.

Landon Bright was a National Association of Collegiate Athletics All-American for Point Loma in the 10K in 2009. He was also picked as the team’s MVP that season and was named Cross Country Athlete of the Year. He is serving as an assistant coach of cross country and track and field at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.

Katie Bright competed for the Sea Lions from 2007-10. She was four-time Golden State Athletics Conference scholar-athlete and a three-time National Athletics Intercollegiate Association scholar-athlete.

“Landon and Katie bring a high level of expertise in cross country,” said Bruins athletics director Neal Ring. “Landon presented a very proactive approach in building this program and included in that was a strong spiritual component that fit exactly with what we stand for in our approach to athletics.”